Snow White and the Seventeen Dwarfs: A Fairy Tale Satire by Ford Forkumis a dark and satirical take on the cartoon version of the classic fairy tale.

Snow White and the Seventeen Dwarfs is a fractured fairy tale on the dark side. Forkum describes an evil queen descending into madness. She has been talking to mirrors and finds an enchanted mirror that feeds her mania and creates an obsession with maintaining her place as most beautiful in the realm. When the mirror tells her that her stepdaughter Snow has unseated her by a very narrow margin, she dispatches the Huntsman and then things take a very different turn. Snow encounters seventeen dwarves, including one who believes himself to be a dog named Savage and the somewhat sultry Dwarfette. Forkum’s take on the story and world in which it takes place is more Middle Earth than Disney. Forkum takes the well-known characters, adds some players and makes an entire world his own.

Forkum’s 62-page deep dive into the classic story shows its absurdity in dark tones. Snow isn’t the naive girl built in the more familiar telling. She’s canny and a little bloodthirsty. Forkum adds dimension in leading his readers into rethinking absolute good versus absolute evil. Forkum’s writing style is very simple and easy to follow mimicking the rhythm of a children’s story. While the story is mostly well thought out and expertly created, there are moments where the jokes seem to be a bit much, but the overall brilliance of the re-telling makes those brief moments nitpicking. The story feels complete despite the inherently distilled nature of novellas and, for that matter, fairy tales.

Taken as a whole, Snow White and the Seventeen Dwarfs is a brilliantly funny read reminiscent of the sort of humor one sees from Monty Python. There are intelligence and absurdity that calls to readers who love seeing what, perhaps, readers always knew was there but characters wouldn’t want you to see. Snow White and the Seventeen Dwarfs is a great read. Pick it up today and share it with your family. They’ll get a kick out of this funny and fresh take on the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.